Special report: Scandal of hungry children in poverty-hit Manchester

The scandal of Manchester children going hungry because their families can’t afford decent food is revealed by the M.E.N. today. A damning report shows that 42 per cent of the city’s youngsters are now living below the poverty line – double the national rate.

The scandal of Manchester children going hungry because their families can’t afford decent food is revealed by the M.E.N. today.

A damning report shows that 42 per cent of the city’s youngsters are now living below the poverty line – double the national rate.

A town hall strategy document, drawn up to tackle the issue, lists food poverty as one of the key problems faced by families. The report says there are pockets of the city which have poor access to affordable, nutritious food and too many fast food outlets.

The M.E.N. has learned volunteers in some parts of the city are providing food to young people who are going hungry.

A charity is sending a van into deprived parts of north and east Manchester to sell cheap fruit and veg.

The council report shows there are almost 40,000 children, across 20,000 households, who are living in poverty. This is defined as those living in households with incomes of less than £12,600, or 60pc of the average income before housing costs.

Some 27pc of children are growing up in severe poverty – on household incomes less than half the average – which is the highest rate of any local authority in Britain outside London.

Council chiefs say there is no quick fix to the problem and fear it will rise with government welfare changes and increasing costs of food, fuel and energy.

They have set job creation as their number one priority, with the majority of youngsters affected being brought up in jobless households.

Moss Side, Hulme, Ancoats and Clayton, Ardwick, Miles Platting and Newton Heath and Harpurhey are the worst affected of Manchester’s 32 wards, according to the town hall report which will go before members of the council’s executive today.

In all these six wards more than half the children are living in poverty. Chorlton is the only neighbourhood where poverty rates are below the national average of 22pc.

Click on the areas of Manchester in the interactive map below for more statistics ...

Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: "As the report to the executive shows there are no quick fixes to the serious problem of family poverty.

"In the short term, coalition cuts to welfare are going to make our poorest families even poorer so as well as finding long term solutions to these problems, as we are trying to do through work on troubled families, the council and other agencies are also going to have to deal with short-term problems that have the potential to reach crisis scale.

"The problem in Manchester is not untypical of many inner-city areas, but in many respects this is generational and we are reaping now the seeds sewn in the recession of the 1970s and 80s and the collapse of traditional industries in Manchester.

"Although our economy, in relative terms, has been successful, many people are excluded from the ‘new economy’ and that’s what we’re striving to change. The single most important element of this is creating jobs and getting people working."

Nationally, only the London boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Islington have a worse child poverty record.

In some of the worst-hit areas, three-quarters of children are living in poverty. In many wards, the figure is more than half. Some 36pc of pupils qualify for free school meals – considered a marker of need – compared with 17pc nationally.

Poverty among households in work is less prevalent, although there are pockets in Cheetham, Longsight and Rusholme.

The council’s family poverty strategy aims to identify problems early on, improve healthy lifestyles and help families into work. Among the tasks set out are improving access to employment, training, debt advice, affordable childcare and nutritious food, boosting school attainment and creating adequate housing and open spaces for children to thrive.

The council is also trying to make inroads with the most difficult families as part of a national community budget pilot which is trialling more joint investment by local agencies.

What do you think should be done to tackle the problem? Send us your comments below ...

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